Lou Creekmur, a 6-4, 246-pound college star at William and Mary, joined the Detroit Lions in 1950 and quickly established himself as one of the most versatile and talented performers on a team loaded with outstanding stars.

During the 1950s decade when the Lions won National Football League championships in 1952, 1953 and 1957, Creekmur was a perennial All-NFL selection. An outstanding blocker on both passing and rushing plays, Lou started his pro career as an offensive guard, winning all-league acclaim at that spot in 1951 and 1952. He then was shifted to offensive left tackle where he remained, except for one season, the rest of his 10-year career. At that position, Lou was named All-NFL four times in 1953, 1954, 1956 and 1957. In 1953, he earned all-league honors at both guard and tackle.

Then, in 1955, he spent most of the season filling in capably, in an emergency situation, at defensive middle guard. Throughout his Detroit tenure, the versatile Creekmur was used in critical short-yardage defensive situations.

Extremely durable, Creekmur played every pre-season, regular-season and post-season game during his first nine campaigns and, going into his final season, owned a streak of more than 165 consecutive game appearances. Besides two divisional playoff games and four NFL championship contests he played in as a Lion, Lou was selected to eight consecutive Pro Bowl classics from 1950 through 1957.

He joined Bobby Layne and Doak Walker as only the third offensive player from the Lions vintage years to earn Pro Football Hall of Fame membership. Defensive teammates already in the Hall included Joe Schmidt, Jack Christiansen and Yale Lary.

Louis Creekmur